Author Archive: nikki

Last week, many primary schools held presentation days. This is a day when more-or-less the same students every year receive awards for academic excellence while the rest almost die with boredom as they sit and clap for three hours. Personally, these awards don’t sit well with me because, just like beauty or sporting prowess a lot of this stuff […]

We all go through feelings of blah from time to time and sometimes it can seem as if there is no rhyme or reason. I don’t know if that’s entirely true, but it may be that it’s just difficult to identify a specific cause. For lots of us, there are so many thoughts and feelings […]

Something that you may or may not be aware of is that we actually need to produce acid in our stomach! This has nothing to do with the nouveau health trend of maintaining a more alkaline diet. In that regard, we are referring to the acidity and alkalinity of the blood – not the gut.

A week or so ago, I posted a piece about modern human hips and some of the ingredients that have lead so many of us to tightness and tension in that area. It’s a subject deserving of an entire book or documentary series perhaps but I had a few questions about it, so here is a sort […]

This is kind of an upside-down, handstand version of baddha konasana and I much prefer the supine version to be honest; the one where you lie down and relax and do it as a restorative pose. You can support the knees with blankets or blocks to make it feel comfortable and it encourages the flow […]

I’ve scribbled notes about current life stuff on and off over the years, and journalling was a very important aspect of my year-long yoga teacher training all those years ago. What I think is funny now, when I look back at some of those entries, is that some of the people I mention, I have […]

What does it mean to create “resistance” when practising physical yoga exercises and how does it work? Most people understand the value of resistance training in a fitness class and may use equipment to do it, but you don’t need any really, because it is possible to use your own body and I love the […]

In between the rain and yoga class evenings this winter, you’ll generally catch me down at the beach, walking the dog and running number two son. I’m rarely disappointed with the vista; lots of beautiful sunsets, amazing colours and a sense of peace and space. But every day, even from this exact same angle is different […]

How many everyday sayings that relate to some kind of emotion come back to a physical feeling in the tummy? – I had butterflies in my stomach – I felt like I had swallowed a lead balloon -I felt sick with fear – It was like being kicked in the guts – What’s eating away […]

There’s been some research and discussion in the past few years that links internet and particularly social media in teens with depression, but is it just young people who are vulnerable? I do think it’s important to realise how insidious certain practises can be without us realising. Little things that start as a now-and-then pastime […]